System and Method for Managing Touch Screen Multiplayer Poker

ABSTRACT

An method invention is disclosed where a network of touch screen computers used to play poker against other people who may or may not also be using touch screen computers is managed. The invention provides a mechanism to manage said network of touch screen poker computers from any location using a Web browser. The invention allows the graphics, animation and textual information displayed on said touch screen poker computers to be updated within minutes without intervention at the location of the touch screen poker computer.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the method of providing and administering of multiplayer poker games in which players may or may not be located at the same physical location, and where the players perform all processes related to game play using a touch screen device, and more specifically the management of a network of touch screen gaming devices and managing game play and communications.

With the gaining popularity of computer based poker games where players play against other players and not the computer, and where wagering on the games is regulated by both the jurisdiction where the player is located and the jurisdiction where the computer managing the game is located, operators of online gaming networks are looking for methods to provide such games to the public in such a way as to ensure compliance with legal jurisdictions. Additionally the operators of online multiplayer games are looking for methods to attract additional players to their games. Physical touch screen devices where the player performs processes related to game play by touching regions on a screen with either their finger or a pointing device are very easy to use and make it possible for multiplayer games that use the Internet as a communications device to be permanently located in a physical location. The physical touch screen device becomes an electronic seat at a poker game where the game may, or may not be located at the same location as the player.

The successful operation of a network of touch screen gaming devices where the devices may be located at different locations throughout the world or a specific legal jurisdiction regulated by a government body, requires a centralized administration process and method that allows any device within the network to be controlled and managed from a central location.

There are several advantages to providing online multiplayer gaming from within public locations such as casinos, race tracks, airports, shopping centers, and other locations where the public tends to go, and by using touch screen devices. First, by providing online gaming in public locations, the jurisdictional government along with the gaming network owner can assure that the laws related to game play in the legal jurisdiction are followed. Unlike a purely online game where players may be breaking the law where they are located, a public device is easy to regulate. Second, a single location may not have enough players to successfully start and maintain a game. By putting a multiplayer game at multiple locations, the online game operator ensures that there are enough players to maintain the game. Third, by providing their online game in a public location, the owner of the online game network can build the confidence of players who may decide to play at home or at another public location at a later time.

Prior to the present invention, there is no mechanism for online poker rooms, casinos, or race tracks, to manage a network of touch screen poker devices without gaining access to each physical device. Each time the computer software, images, graphics, or textual elements required update, the online game operator would be required to visit each device either in person or by using remote access software.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanism to control and manage a network of devices using a centralized administration and management system.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In view of the deficiencies described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for controlling the access to online poker games where the player uses a touch screen device to perform all processes of the game.

In accordance with the invention, the poker game is provided to the player in such a way that a keyboard is not required by the player to operate the game and all processes of game play can be performed by the user by touching regions of the screen located on the physical device. The invention ensures that all physical game play devices can communicate with a centralized device controller and adhere to the rules of the game. Additionally the invention allows the physical game play devices to be controlled using a centralized database and management system allowing the images and touchable regions of the device to be managed from locations other than where the device is located.

Embodied in the invention is a method for accessing data from the Internet that is used to present all displayed elements on the screen, provide for automated update of the images displayed on the device, and control all graphic and textual elements that make up the poker game. Additionally, the invention provides a mechanism for maintain and tracking the status of each physical device both when it is in use and while it is waiting for a player to join a game. The invention provides a mechanism for displaying graphics and textual elements that are unique to individual devices allowing the screen of the device to appear different depending on the physical location of the device.

Internet servers are used by the invention to track all devices that are used to within the invention ensuring that the owners of the physical devices can be compensated for game play that occurs using their devices.

In a preferred embodiment, the appearance of the invention is the same as flat computer screen containing a magnetic card reader that is used to read digital media.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detail description taken in conjunction with the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Is a pictorial representation of a touch-screen data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a touch screen data processing system used by game players in which components of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing system used as centralized database server and system controller in which components of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a touch screen game interface program in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the relationship of components of a online poker game network in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an address field used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a response command delivered to a device with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process used for implementing a management request in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process used for processing a management request in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to FIG. 1, a pictorial representation of a touch screen data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A computer 100 is depicted which includes a system unit 102, a video display terminal with touch recognition capabilities 103, storage devices 108, which may include CD-ROM drives and other types of permanent and removable storage media. Additional devices may be included with the computer 100, such as, for example, a magnetic card reader 106 a microphone, sound card, speakers, and the like. Computer 100 may be implemented using any suitable computer with touch screen capabilities, such as the ELO 1529 or ELO 1525, which are products of ELO Touchsystems a division of Tyco Electronics located in California. Although the depicted representation shows a computer where all components are located within a single device, other embodiments of the present invention may be implemented on other types of data processing equipment, such as a personal computer containing a separate system unit and a touch screen monitor.

With reference now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a touch screen data processing system is shown in which the present invention may be implemented. Data processing system 200 is an example of a computer, such as a computer 100 in FIG. 1, in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the present invention may be located. Data processing system 200 employs a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus architecture. Although the depicted example employs a PCI bus, other bus architectures such as Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) may be used. Processor 202 and main memory 204 are connected to the PCI local bus 206 through a PCI bridge 208. PCI Bridge 208 also may include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 202. Additional connections to the PCI local bus 206 may be made through direct component interconnection or through add-in boards. In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter 210, small computer systems interface SCSI host bus adapter 212, and expansion bus interface 214 are connected to the PCI local bus 206 by direct component connection. In contract, audio adapter 216, graphics adaptor 218, and audio/video adapter 21 9 are connected to the PCI local bus 206 by add-in boards inserted into expansion slots. Expansion bus interface 21 4 provides a connection for a keyboard and mouse adapter 220, and additional memory 224. SCSI host bus adapter provides a connection for hard disk drive 226 and CD-ROM drive 230. Universal Serial Bus adapter 231 provides a connection for Touch Screen Controller 232 and other optional components 233. Typical PCI local bus implementations will support three or four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors.

An operating system runs on processor 202 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 200 in FIG. 2. The operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Windows XP, which is available from Microsoft Corporation. An object oriented programming system such as Delphi from Borland Inc., may run in conjunction with the operating system and provide calls to the operating systems from programs or applications executing on data processing system 200. Additional programs used to control various components such as the touch screen controller may be executing on data processing system 200.

The depicted example in FIG. 2 and above-described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processing system 200 also may be a notebook computer or hand held computer in addition to taking the form of a PDA. Data processing system 200 may also be a kiosk or Web appliance.

The processes of the present invention are performed by processor 202 using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in memory such as, for example, main memory 204, memory 224, or in one or more peripheral devices 226-230.

Turning next to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a data processing system used as centralized Internet server, database server, and system controller in which components of the present invention may be implemented. The computer hardware used within the data processing system 300 depicted in FIG. 3 is equivalent to the data processing system 200 depicted in FIG. 2 although the size of the computer system used in data processing system 300 may be much larger. A server operating system 330 runs on processor 302 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 300 in FIG. 3. The server operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Windows 2003 Server, which is available from Microsoft Corporation. Other software running within data processing system 300 includes an Internet Web Server 310 and a Database Server 320. The Internet Web Server 310 may be a commercially available Web Server such as Internet Information Server (ISS), which is available from Microsoft Corporation. The Database Server 320 may be a commercially available database server such as Oracle, which is available from Oracle Corporation. The Internet Web Server 310 runs on processor 302 listening for requests from the Internet on Network Interface 308. Data related to the operation of the invention in its preferred embodiment is stored on disk storage 330 which is managed by the database server 320. Software used in the preferred embodiment may be called by the Internet Web Server 310 or the Database Server 320 when requests are made to the data processing system 300.

The depicted example in FIG. 3 and the above-described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processing system 300 may be a network of computers working together to perform the tasks required by data processing system 300. If the size of a gaming network becomes large, it may become impossible for a single computer system to perform the tasks of data processing system 300.

Turning next to FIG. 4, a block diagram of a touch screen online poker game interface in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A touch screen online poker game interface is an application used to present graphics, animation, and data to a player and allowing the player to navigate through the different tasks required to begin, perform, and end game play. The touch screen online poker game interface is connected to the other players in the network via the Internet or the World Wide Web.

In this example game interface 400 includes a graphical interface 401, which is a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user to visualize graphics, animation, and textual information that is presented to them. Touch Screen Interface 402 allows the users to communicate with the game interface 400 by touching regions on the screen with either their finger or a device such as a pen. When the user communicates with the game interface 400 using the touch screen interface 402, the game interface 400 receives the X and Y coordinates of the location on the touch screen interface 402 where the user touched. This interface provides selection of various functions through buttons and menus 404 and allows for navigation though navigation screens 405. Navigation screens 405 allows for a user to navigate through various selection and process screens and select game information for viewing. For example, navigation screens 405 may allow the user to see their account balance, add funds to their account, or view games in play without playing themselves.

Communications 410 is the mechanism with which game interface 400 receives management and animation commands, and other resources from a network such as the Internet. Further, communications 410 is used to send commands and game status onto a network. In the depicted example, communication 410 is uses HTTP. Other protocols such as RCP and TCP/IP may also be used depending on the type of information that is received or requested. Data and commands that are received by the game interface 400 are processed by language interpretation 412 and will process a command. The result of the language interpretation 412 may be the display or removal or graphics or textual elements from a screen, animation, or a request for additional information from the user.

Graphical display 41 8 includes layout unit 420, rendering unit 422, and window management 424. These units are involved in presenting graphical and textual elements to a user based on results from language interpretation 41 2.

Game Interface 400 is presented as an example of a game interface program in which the present invention may be embodied. Game Interface 400 is not meant to imply architectural limitation to the present invention. Game interfaces may include additional functions not shown or may omit functions shown in game interface 400.

Turning next to FIG. 5, a block diagram illustrating the relationship of components of an online poker game network in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing a network of game interfaces 502, each running on its own data processing system 510, from a centralized data processing system 501. The centralized internet and database server 501 which is represented in FIG. 3 is used to manage the network of game interfaces 502 which are represented in FIG. 4. Communications between the internet and database server 501 and the network of game interfaces 502 occurs over the Internet 510 using a command language 520. Administrators of the system 530 access the internet and database server 502 using a Web Browser 530. The data used to control and manage the network of game interfaces 502 is stores within the database 540. The network of game interface 502 is in constant communications with the centralized data processing system 501 and the status of each device is stored in the database 540. Administrators 530 can get up to the minute information on each device using their Web browser 530.

Turning next to FIG. 6, a diagram illustrating an address field is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Address field 600 in this example indicates URL 602 and data parameters 604 separated by delimiter 606. In this example, the delimiter is a “$”, but any delimiter may be used depending on the implementation. The mechanism of the present invention parses the entry and address fields 600 and uses URL 602 as the address of the centralized internet and database server as represented in FIG. 3 and contains the name of the program to be executed 603. The data parameters 604 are used by the centralized internet and database server to process data.

Each time the game interface 400 as represented in FIG. 4 requires management communication with the centralized internet and game server in FIG. 3, an address field 600 is created by the program depending on the action that needs to be performed.

Next turning to FIG. 7 a diagram illustrating a response command delivered to a device with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Response command 700 in this example indicates a command 702 the requires processing by the game interface 400 and data parameters 704 separated by delimiter 706 and terminated by terminating character 707. In this example the delimiter is “|” but any delimiter may be used depending on the implementation. In this example the terminating character is “ˆ” but any terminating character can be used as long as that character is never included elsewhere in the response command 700. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, multiple response commands may be received at one time. For example, the commands to clear the screen, put a new image on the screen, and animate movement on the screen may be received in a single command. In this case the terminating character 707 is used to separate commands so that they are processed in order.

Next turning to FIG. 8 a flowchart of a process used for implementing a management request in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Step 801 initializes the request for a management command. There are many ways a request for management command 801 is initialized. Examples include a user touching a screen, the expiration of a delay timer in the game interface program 400, and other events that require some sort of communications with the network. Step 802 determines the source of the request. Step 803 creates a command to be sent via URL to an address as represented in FIG. 6. Step 804 verifies that the computer is still properly communicating with the Internet. Step 805 sends the commands to the centralized game sever. Step 806 opens a thread waiting for the results from the command. Step 807 sets a time within the program to time out if a response is not received in an acceptable amount of time.

Next turning to FIG. 9 a flowchart of a process used for processing a management request on the central processing server in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Step 901 receives the communication request from the player. Step 902 identifys the source of the request and determines if it is a valid requestor. Step 903 parses the parameters sent as part of the request. Step 904 executes the command within the central processing server that was send by the requester. Step 905 creates the response generated by the execution of the command. 

1. A method in a data processing system for managing touch screen enabled online poker devices from a central location comprising: A database for storing information on touch screen poker devices; A collection of program modules presented as web pages for accessing and maintaining information on touch screen poker devices; An internet Web server used to communicate with the database; An interface program running on touch screen poker devices to communicate with the database service via the Internet Web server; A communication language to receive commands from the internet Web server to processing by the interface program.
 2. The method as in claim 1 wherein each touch screen poker device contains a unique identification number that identifies the device.
 3. The method as in claims 1 and 2 wherein a record is stored in a database for each touch screen poker device which is uniquely identified by the unique identification number referred to in claim
 2. 4. The method as in claim 3 wherein the record stored in the database contains information related to the physical location of the device and a reference to a record identifying the images and programmable regions on the touch device.
 5. The method as in claim 1 wherein a record is stored in the database that defines all information required to acquire and display images on the touch screen poker device.
 6. The method as in claims 1 and 5 wherein a string of commands is transferred from the internet Web server to the interface program running on the touch screen poker devices at one time that includes all action commands required to display graphics, animation, and textual information on the screen and process information received by the interface program when the user touches a screen.
 7. The method as in claims 1 and 6 wherein the interface program running on the touch screen poker computer processes the string of commands transferred to it can continue operations without additional configuration commands from the network until changes are made to the configuration command string.
 7. The method as in claims 1 and 6 wherein the interface program running on the touch screen poker computer processes the string of commands transferred to it can continue operations without additional configuration commands from the network until changes are made to the configuration command string.
 8. The method as in claims 1, 5, and 6 wherein the interface program running on the internet web server determines whether the string of commands referred to in claim 6 needs to be retransmitted do to changes in database information.
 9. The method as in claims 1, 2, 3, and 4 where the software installation process required to put the interface program on the touch screen poker computer automatically creates the unique identification number referred to in claim 2 and the database record referred to in claim
 3. 10. The method as in claims 1, 5, and 6 allowing an administrator of the system to define the images, animation and programming events required to display information on the touch screen poker computer using a Web browser. 